Since it launched in 1978, Galway international arts festival (GIAF) has changed beyond recognition. “As much goes on in one day now as would have filled that whole programme,” chief executive John Crumlish tells me. But one constant is the commitment to remaining a festival for everybody. This year, 30% of events are free.
The decision, in 2009, to produce as well as host work has enabled GIAF to develop its particular identity and to tour productions in the UK, the US and Australia. Among them is playwright Enda Walsh’s ever-developing series of dramatic installations, Rooms, designed by the festival’s artistic director, Paul Fahy; the first group premiered in 2016. Here, 2020’s Changing Room and the new Dining Room deliver powerfully contrasting stories of hope and desperation.
